The Big Picture

Eric Adjepong is a successful
Top Chef
alum with new shows on Food Network and a children’s book.
Adjepong is highlighting African flavors in fine dining to showcase the diversity of African cuisine.

Wildcard Kitchen
, hosted by Eric, is a new Food Network show blending cooking competition with poker.

Season 16 of Top Chef aired in 2018. The top three finalists of the Kentucky season of the reality series were Eric Adjepong, Sara Bradley, and Kelsey Barnard Clark, and the latter took the top prize. Eric was eliminated before the final, but that elimination did not deter his career. Before Top Chef, Eric received his degrees from Johnson and Wales University in culinary arts and nutrition. He went on to continue his education at the University of Westminster in London, where he received a master’s in public health and international public health & nutrition. It was in London that he also began working in Michelin star-rated restaurants, before making his way back stateside to compete on Top Chef.

Things only went up after Eric’s first stint on Top Chef. He was invited back to the series to compete in Top Chef All-Stars: L.A., and eventually became a regular face on the Food Network, primarily as a judge on shows like Chopped, Tournament of Champions, and is also the host of Alex vs. America. He’s also an author, and he worked with Penguin books on a children’s book called Sankofa: A Culinary Story of Resilience and Belonging. The book follows the stories behind foods from the African diaspora. According to MasterClass, the Ghanian word, “Means ‘to retrieve’ in the Akan Twi language, but the meaning of Sankofa is more broadly expanded upon in this Akan proverb: ‘Se wo were fi na wosankofa a yenkyi’ (translated from the Akan language to mean “it is not taboo to go back and fetch what you forgot”).” Eric is Ghanian American, and his culture is always at the forefront.

Now, Eric is hosting a new Food Network series, Wildcard Kitchen, a new competition series with a poker twist.Collider had the opportunity to speak with Eric about the new series, as well as the state of West African cuisine in the American culinary world.

Eric Adjepong Is Shining a Light On the Beauty Of Food From the African Diaspora
Image via Food Network

The American culinary world, especially fine dining, gives special reverence to Western cooking from countries like France, Italy, and other European cuisines. American people have been trained to see these foods as the height of sophistication because they have been the standard for decades. Eric is one of several Black chefs in the American culinary industry who are working hard to bring African flavors into fine dining.

When asked about the state of West African cuisine in fine dining, Eric said: “West African flavors, and cuisines from all over the continent are seen more in the European culinary world than in America. So, while things have progressed internationally, Americans are just now being introduced to flavors from the continent.”

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To help with that, Eric partnered with AYO foods and created two dishes for their frozen food collection: Waakye and Chicken Yassa, a partnership that he is very proud of. According to an article from LATaco.com, “African cuisine is largely undermined and undervalued in the popular food media. Africa is one of the largest diasporas in the world, a continent with 54 countries and a population of over 1.4 billion people. To not tell those stories, which vary by region, which dazzle and reinvent our understandings and relationship to food, is to succumb to a colonial mindset that has marked a pitiful era of reporting.” The article also mentions that many foods in American cuisine like rice and okra came to the United States in the form of seeds brought by the enslaved Africans. Africa is the second-largest continent in the world, and yet, the flavors from the various countries it’s made up of have yet to make it to mainstream American eating.

‘Wildcard Kitchen’ Brings a New Twist to Food Network
Image via Food Network

Eric is the host of the new Food Network series, Wildcard Kitchen. The new series blends cooking competition with poker, an unusual but exciting concept. When asked about his poker skills, Eric was very candid, and said, “Not at all!” While he may not be a professional poker player, but he has picked up things watching his contemporaries compete. Wildcard Kitchen takes place “after hours” in the Food Network test kitchen. The premise, according to Food Network, is that the chefs receive an “exclusive invitation for three chefs to bring $5,000 to play across three hands of his underground culinary poker game. The competitors, who all know each other well, have scores to settle and personal stakes to lose as they battle to create dishes based on the cards they are dealt and bet using their own instincts and cold hard cash. The luck of the draw determines the dishes and cooking time, while wildcards deal unpredictable challenges into the mix that test the chefs like never before.”

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When asked about how Wildcard Kitchen differs from the other competition shows on Food Network Eric said: “You know, it’s after hours. And the chefs come in ready to play to win. You get to see a different side of the chefs; they’re more relaxed and in their street clothes. It’s laid back and a lot of fun.” He was sincere about the chefs taking things seriously. When it comes to who has the best poker face, some may be surprised by Eric’s answer.

When asked, he said, “Tiffany Faison has a pretty good one. But you know who has a really good poker face? Jet Tila! People would not expect it, but he loves playing poker, and he’s good at it.” Eric also shared that he had begun to notice the chefs tells as they play the game, so while he may be a poker novice, he is learning. It will be interesting to see just how relaxed the Food Network personalities will be on Wild Card Kitchen. With the poker concept and the idea of it being an opportunity to see the network’s favorite chefs getting competitive in a different light, the series has the potential to stand out among its contemporaries.

Wildcard Kitchen will premiere on the Food Network on Tuesday, March 12 at 9 PM ET, 8 PM ET. Episodes can be streamed online.Watch on Food Network